Saturday, November 25, 2006

Water Or Stone?

Do water and stones speak
with different, discernable tongues?
The one must be tremulously whiny,
because its skin is see-through thin;
the other, a deep, bass vibrato,
it has no lips to articulate speech.
I walked to the edge of the lake
picked up a smooth flat stone,
gave it a flick of the wrist,
splash splash splash splash splash
Was it water, or stone
that had the last word?

20 comments:

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Provocative! Great series of thoughts and words, Pat!

jel said...

very deep :)

Russell Ragsdale said...

Who said gul-up? Or are they still talking now that the stone has gotten settled in? Why does the water caress the stone so lovingly, I wonder? Nice one Pat!

ann said...

neither.... the fish had the last word

Tongue in Cheek Antiques said...

The marriage of the two created the sound. The voice in perfect harmony. Strong and current.

Amalendu said...

all on the surface....I liked the way you put the Splash....

MB said...

Can one speak without the other? Can the writer speak without the reader? ;-)

Masago said...

Wow! Great encore to the leaf-as-fish meditation! Love how you played with the font sizes of "splash"...very effective.

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

wonderful -- makes you think

polona said...

profound and thought-provoking...this must be one of my favourites!
(love skimming stones :) )

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing water. "This is the sound of you sinking."

Margie said...

Love his one Pat!
One of my many favorites!!!
(and, there are so many!)
I too...love skimming those stones!

Margie:)

Pris said...

I like this. Kind of like the what's the sound of one hand clapping question in the poem:-)

trinitystar said...

Imagination Pat ... excelled yourself on this ... we are left to ponder! Thank you for sharing!
:o)

floots said...

knocked out by this one pat
(the poem - not the stone) :)
great stuff

Medusa aka expiringpoet said...

Tittilatingly philosophical! I love it!

Pat Paulk said...

None, thanks!!

Janice, thank you!!

Russel, like hand in glove. Thank you!!

Ann, yeah, it was "ouch" as the rock hit it in the head.

Corey, you're right, it was both.

Amalendu, I actually had it spaced too, but blogger wouldn't show that. Thank you!!

MB, very good point!! Does a tree make a noise when it falls in the woods??

Thanks, Vaughn!! Guess I was feeling a little whimsical.

Andrew, Thanks!!

Thanks Polona!! I love doing that too!!

Doughnutjane,"sinking", I hope that doesn't equate to "drowning".

Thanks, Margie!!

Thanks Pris!! I think one hand makes more sound than two...

Trinitystar, imagination I have plenty of, or so, that's what my mother always told me. Thank you!!

Thanks Floots!!

Tim, without either, there is neither. Thanks Tim!!

Thanks Medusa, it was a bit of a tease.

Anonymous said...

Insightful. And the diminishing effect of the splash, splash certainly creates an effect on my mind. Lots of echoes in this poem.

Osquer said...

Streams and pebbles both

chuckle and chatter with their

similar voices.

gautami tripathy said...

Now this is something we can't answer. You took that up very well. Eternal question about life..